North Lake Tahoe Bonanza October 31, 2001

Rotarians raise funds for refugees

By Merry Thomas, Bonanza Staff Writer

Ellen and Alan Castator display a working model and a photo of a village size solor oven to be distrubuted Rotary International. Photo by Michael Okimoto.

If Rotary International has anything to say about it -- and it does -- solar ovens might help save the world. New Incline Village residents Ellen and Alan Castator teamed up just two months ago to volunteer full-time on the organization's Temple Solar Project. The four-year-old project has already helped communities in a variety of developing countries, and now has the opportunity to reach out to Afghan refugees. When President Bush presented the concept of each child donating one dollar to help others, children at the Miami Country Day School decided to sell plants and use the proceeds for a Villager oven. When members of local Miami Rotary clubs heard about this, they decided to match what the children make to purchase an oven. Rotary International is encouraging each club to donate $300 toward an oven to help Afghan refugees. "There's one going now on board a relief ship, to help prepare food for refugees," Castator said. "About $8,000 has been raised already toward a second oven. Each one costs $10,500, plus $2,500 for shipping, depending on where it's going."

The ovens are earmarked for Dasht-i-Qala, a non-Taliban controlled region, he added. Rotary has teamed up with the New York-based organization, iEarn, which has advanced knowledge about the uses of solar energy. The organization chooses non-governmental organizations, such as Rotary, thus avoiding political conflict. "We try to choose organizations that have been active in a country for five to 10 years, so they know the locals and the culture," Castator said. The organizations are required to send reports each year to Rotary International in the United States, he said.

When Hurricane Mitch threatened Honduras a few years ago, Rotary collaborated with Feeding Children Worldwide, based in Minneapolis, to provide ovens with plastic bags filled with a mixture of rice, textured soy, dehydrated vegetables, vitamins and minerals. Each bag provided a meal for six at a cost of only 30 cents, according to Mrs. Castator. Another oven went to a school for the blind. The youngsters not only learned how to bake bread but set up a small bakery business, Castator said. Humanitarian shipments can be held up for two years, but Rotary has discovered materials get in more quickly if they send them to a priest or through a religious organization. Another oven is awaiting shipment to Ghana, according to Mrs. Castator. The communities receiving ovens are chosen carefully. One of the important attributes is plenty of sunshine to make the oven worthwhile.

Yet, if it goes to a community and is not being used much, Rotary members from the region will report this and the oven will be sent to another location, she added. In Africa, for instance, deforestation has been so prevalent that 25 percent of its land cannot be cultivated, her husband added. Solar ovens can help reduce deforestation and global warming. For every pound of wood burned, 1.8 pounds of carbon dioxide is produced, according to Castator. At this rate, one village can save 150 tons of wood a year by using a Villager oven. What Rotarians found out as they began applying the project inspired them all the more.

In developing countries, such as Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Nepal and Angola, five million children die each year from smoke inhalation from the traditional wood-burning fires. They discovered the ovens not only can help save children's lives but they promote safety for women. Because women are responsible for foraging for wood in these communities and they are having to go farther afield to find wood because of widespread deforestation, they are more likely to be injured and even raped. By using the solar heat, their safety and health are protected. Village women reap economic rewards, as well. They cook and distribute the food made in the village oven, setting up a micro-enterprise. Schools, orphanages and hospitals have benefited from the ovens, Mrs. Castator said.

They can be used to pasteurize water and sterilize medical instruments, she added. "A Villager oven can cook six eight-quart stock pots at a time. It can provide 1,200 meals a day or 1,000 loaves of bread a day," Castator said. T his compares with a traditional stone oven that can bake only 35 loaves of bread a day and takes half a day to build up its coals. "We spend a lot of time traveling all around the United States giving presentations on the project," Castator said. Ten people are on the committee for Rotary International, Mrs. Castator said. "We haven't scratched the surface in controlling deforestation," he added. The couple have a cause they believe in and are enjoying every minute of working within the Rotary network. They first became involved with the international project in February at their local club in Western Springs, near Chicago.

The Castators sold their law business just two months ago, and moved to Incline only three weeks ago, Mrs. Castator said. The Temple Solar Project started at the district level four and a half years ago, her husband said. Rotary is organized in local clubs, districts and on the international level, he explained. Tim Burns, a Rotarian from Milwaukee, invented the type of oven used in the project, although it's now produced by Sun Ovens International, whose chief Paul Muson, spoke recently at the United Nations, urging use of solar energy. "He went broke doing this in retirement, and Rotary bailed him out," he added. Bill Temple, a Rotarian from Hinsdale, Ill. came up with the concept that made all the difference. As of Oct. 12, 37 ovens have been placed in communities, according to Castator. Any Rotary club that donates $2,000 toward an oven gets its name on the oven, he added. One of the wonderful aspects about Rotary is that 100 percent of the proceeds benefit the cause, Castator said. For more information, visit the Web site at www.Rotarysolarovens.org.